HISTORY TIP OF THE DAY

Shays’ Rebellion, January 25th, 1787

To raise desperately needed revenue, states had begun imposing taxes on their citizens—in some cases, at rates higher than the British had once demanded. When farmers were unable to pay, their homes, fields, and livestock were seized; in some places, they were imprisoned. Once more anger was simmering in New England. The growing rebellion finds a leader in a Massachusetts farmer named Daniel Shays. He and some 1,500 protestors prevent courts from hearing foreclosure cases. Shays then leads 2,000 farmers in an attempt to seize an arsenal in Springfield. When they are repulsed, the rebellion is finished.